2534 Thin Ice (Part 2)



"I know, but we are walking on thin ice." The King sighed. "If we push the Courts too far, they'll just stop helping us. At that point, the culls would become the least of our problems.

"Without them, the resources of our new home will run out in the span of a few months instead of years. We'd be forced to move again, this time with no one scouting the paths ahead for us or giving us the intel that we need for our raids.

"That bastard is right about one thing. We need to trust them. If they backstab us, a few Harmonizers less will make no difference since will be all dead."

"Then why don't you give the Courts the Harmonizers now?" The Traughen representative asked. "At least we'd check their loyalty instead of being constantly afraid of betrayal."

"Because this way, we are buying time for the return of our god Glemos." The King stood up, staring at the Traughen in fury. "Because I'm forcing those bloodsuckers to invest so much in us that cutting ties with us would mean a huge loss even for their standards.

"Because if everything goes south, we'd have a fresh start and a rich environment instead of the empty husk that our home has become!"

Everyone lowered their gaze, knowing that those words were as true as they were painful. The children of Glemos had lived there for countless generations and now they were forced to leave their ancestral home.

It wasn't an easy choice nor one they had taken willingly. They just had no other option.

"Now, unless someone has anything idiotic more to add, I'd like to return to selecting the members of our respective tribes that are going to survive the culls and perform the rites of passage before that pompous corpse returns." The Hati sat down, seemingly aged of decades in an instant.

His aura of power was gone and his silvery fur now looked of a dull grey.

Whatever the rites of passage were, Lith and Solus noticed that every person in the room had turned pale. They clenched their hands and looked around as if they were seconds away from running for their lives.

The Queen and her ladies in waiting were gripping the handrail so hard that the self-repair spells could barely keep up with the damage they caused. Even the high priestess looked like someone had just slapped her.

Anything had yet to happen but there was palpable grief in the room.

An orc shaman rushed from the sidelines to her representative who in turn consulted his mildly esteemed Fomor colleague before speaking up.

"Your Majesty, there's a matter at hand that needs your attention." The orc representative said.

"Mine was a rhetorical question." The Hati snarled. "What could there possibly be that's more important than our own survival?"

"One of the raid leaders claims to have important information about Lord Glemos. Also, he claims to have defeated one of the demons that our ancestors warned us about and that there might be more in the outside world." The orc said, having a hard time believing his own words.

The members of the senate gasped at the mention of their god's fate and shuddered at the idea of their legendary enemies haunting them again.

"Let me get this straight." The Hati didn't even bother hiding his disbelief. "In the middle of the raid, one of our young leaders met a stranger who not only knew about Glemos but also gracefully stopped for a chat.

"Also, while they were at it, they faced a demon because why not. What are the odds that any of this can really happen outside of a bard's tale?"

"Actually, the demon and the stranger are the same person." The orc couldn't stand the mockery in the King's eyes and lowered his gaze in embarrassment. "But I can assure you that the raid leader is telling the truth.

"I've checked it myself with a mind link or I would've never wasted your time with such a sick joke during our time of crisis."

"Fine. I'll humor you. For now. Show it to the senate. If demons really are coming after us, our people have the right to know." The Hati stared at Eryon as if he was trash and at the orc shaman like he was insane.

At least until the shaman used a mind link to share Eryon's memories with a Traughen who in turn conjured a hologram to project them for the senate to see.

"Glemos almighty!" The Hati and the orcs didn't take well witnessing Lith's appearance but not as much as the Fomors and Balors.

Seeing a creature bearing the seven eyes that they had longed for millennia was a huge hit to their pride that was only made worse by the resemblance he shared with the demons of the old stories.

A few among the youngest orcs fainted on the spot while a few Balors puked their guts out. And that before hearing the words: "Are you related to Typhos or Echidna? They left me a message before they died."

"How does the abomination know their name?" The Fomor representative asked.

"Typhos and Echidna were with Glemos the day he disappeared. He wouldn't have let them die unless…" The orc representative couldn't find the strength to finish the phrase.

"How can a demon slaughter Glemos' chosen and live to tell the tale? What if Glemos fell for his trickery as well?" The Traughen representative had no such problem. "It's the only possible explanation for the seven eyes!

"He stole Glemos' powers just like he robbed our ancestors', causing our tribe to fall from Mogar's grace. The demons have returned. The increasing purity in our blood must have awakened them from their slumber and they are now coming for us!"

People jumped out of their seats, screaming and running in an attempt to leave the senate, no matter who and how many people they had to trample over for it.

"Enough!" A word from the King and a wave of pure killing intent forced everyone to ignore the hypothetical threat of the demon and focus on the one in the same room with them. "Words prove nothing.

"That demon, assuming it was one, was probably just lying. Go on with the projection." The Traughen regained enough of his cool to show the rest of the fight in its savage splendor and dramatic conclusion.

"See?" The King said with a snort. "If it was a demon, it's already dead. Also, I doubt that anything that can harm our god Glemos could be defeated by a runt. No offense, kid."

"None taken, my liege." Eryon suddenly felt stupid for believing a word of the abomination and arrogant for thinking himself better than the master of his race.

"I have witnessed something similar, my liege." An orc shaman raised his hand. "Until a minute ago I thought it was just a mutated Balor, but now I think it was another demon."

"Two demons in one day?" The King furrowed his brows but his voice had lost most of its scepticism. "Show us."

The hologram depicted another raid team fighting against the city guards helped by Tista in her Red Demon form.